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A bird's bill is a great natural tool

The bird world contains an amazing variety of bills (beaks). Bills are used for eating, defence, feeding young, gathering nesting materials, building nests, preening, scratching, courting and attacking.

The shape and size of each species' bill is specific for the type of food it gathers. Greenfinches for example have heavy thick bills used to crack seeds and oystercatchers have long strong bills to pull up worms from deep in the mud.

Meat-eaters, like the eagles and kestrels have a sharp, hooked bill to tear flesh. Robins have a varied diet and a bill shape that permits eating a variety of foods like insects and fruit. Birds use their tongues for a variety of jobs also. Not only are tongues used to drink, but also to hold, pierce and tear food.

Since most birds consume great amounts of food, they have a crop (sac) just above their stomach that stores food until it moves to the gizzard, however, owls have no crops. Small stones and grit in the gizzard grind the food and is made with strong muscles.

Most birds must continually search for food all day and only a few birds such as owls, crows, nuthatches and jays store some food for future use